Decorticating-machine.



PATENTED AUG. e,- 1907. G. 'H. REYNOLDS. DECORTIGATING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED APB. 2,1908.

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No. 862,846. PATENTED' AUG. 6, 1907;

G. H. REYNOLDS.

DEGORTIGATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APILE, 1906.

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G. H. REYNOLDS. DEOORTIGATING MA CHINE APPLIOATION FILED APR.2,1906. I

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PATENTED AUG. 6, 1907.

. UNITED STATES GEORGE H. REYNOLDS, OF MANSFIELD DEPOT, CONNECTICUT.

DE CORTICATING-MAGHIN E Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1907.

Application filed April 2, 1906. Serial No. 309,430.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Spring Manor, Mansfield Depot, in the county ofTolland and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Decorticating-Machiues, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a decorticating machine, and has for itsobject the production of means, with which stalks of flax and the likecan be treated to break, split, and strip the woody fiber and shellsthereof, without injury to the fiber.

The essential elements of the invention comprise a main crushing drumwith flutes across its cylindrical surface, and a plurality of rollswith flutes across their cylindrical surfaces journaled adjacent to saidmain drum. A number of the flutes of the main drum are straddled by anumber of the flutes of each roll. The drum androlls are rotated inunison so that their flutes are maintained out of contact with eachother, and

thereby allow the introduction of the stalks of the flax or othermaterial to be crushed and treated between them, without injury to thefiber in the stalks. In conjunction with the drum and rolls a feedconveyer charges the machine with the material to be treated, and adischarging conveyer carries the cleaned fiber away. A revolving brushcleans the material as it leaves the last roll, and forces it upon thesaid discharging conveyer.

In the accompanying drawings which exemplify the invention, Figure l isa partial front view of a decorticating machine with a portion of itsframe broken away, and a partial section as on the line 1, 1, of Fig. 2,Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an enlarged end viewof a portion of the main crushing drum, and one of the crushing rolls,Fig. 4 shows an enlarged partial vertical section through one of thebearing supports of the machine, as on the line 4, 4, of Fig. 2, Fig. 5represents an enlarged partial section of the right hand end of Fig. 2,on the line 1, 1, and Fig. 6 is a top view of Fig. 5.

Frames 20 are fastened together by means of the bolts 21, and on each ofthem is carried a U shaped journal bearing support 22, which latter aresecured in place with the studs 23. Journal bearings 24 extend from theframes 20 and support the drum shaft 25, on which is carried the drivingpulley 26, the main crushing drum 27 with spokes 28, the spur gear 29with the spokes 30 and the driver sprocket chain wheel 31. On thesupports 22 are carried the spring journal bearings 32, from each ofwhich latter extend the spindles 33, that are guided in openings orguides 34, extending radially through the said supports 22. A pocket 35is formed beneath each opening 34, and a spring 36 surrounds eachspindle 33 in the said pocket. A nut 37 with a sleeve 38 is carried oneach of said spindles, the

sleeve bearing against one end of the spring 36. The bearings 32 on thetwo supports 22 are located opposite each other in pairs, and each paircarries an axle 39, on which is fastened a pinion 40 that meshes withthe spur gear 29. Each of the axles 39 also carries one of the crushingrolls 41.

The main crushing drum 27 extends across the width of the machine, andit has inclined or skew flutes 42 extending across its cylindricalsurface, the inclinations of said flutes across the surface of the drumbeing preferably equal to the pitch thereof. The crushing rolls 41 alsoextend across the width of the machine and they have inclined or skewflutes 43, that straddle the flutes 42 of the large crushing drum. Therolls are fastened on their axles 39 to rotate in unison with thecrushing drum 2'7, and avoid coming in contact with each other, therebyleaving sufficient clearance between their surfaces for the introductionof the material to be treated.

On the right hand end of the frames 20, is journaled a shaft 44 in thejournal bearings 45, and from the supports 22 extend the journalbrackets 46 for the shaft 47. Pulleys 48 and 49 on the shafts 44 and 47respectively carry a feed conveyer 50. A guide 51 with the flattenedends 52 is bolted to the supports 22, with the studs 53.

On the left hand end of the frames 20 is journaled a shaft 54 in thejournal brackets 55. Double journal brackets 56 adjacent to the supports22 carry the shaft .57, and the brush shaft 58. Pulleys 59.and 69 arefastened on the shafts 57 and 54 respectively, and carry the dischargingconveyer 60.

On the shaft 57 is secured a spur gear 61 which meshes with a somewhatsmaller spur gear 62 fastened to the brush shaft 58. On the latter shaftthere is carried a brush 63 the periphery of which is adjacent to theperiphery of the crushing roll that is next adjacent to the conveyer 60.

On the left hand sides of the supports 22 is secured a guide 64 similarto the guide 51. The sprocket chain wheel 31 canies a sprocket chain 65which meshes with the sprocket chain wheels 66 and 67, on the axles 47and 57 respectively. A guide sheave 68 is journaled from one of theframes 20 for the sprocket chain 65, to keep it clear of the lower sideof the sprocket chain wheel 31. The diameters of the two smallsprocketchain wheels bear about the same relation to the diameter of the largesprocket chain wheel, as the relation between diameters of the crushingdrum and the rolls.

To operate the invention the machine is driven by means of a beltrotating the pulley 26, which rotates the main shaft 25, and thereby thecrushing drum 27, the spur gear 29, the pinions 40, the rolls 41 and thesprocket wheels. indicated by the arrows, the cleaning brush 63 rotatingin an opposite direction from the rolls 41. The stalks The directions ofthe rotations being of flax are fed to the feed conveyer 50 and carriedto the guide 51, by virtue of which they will be fed between the flutesof the crushing drum and the flutes of the rolls, and carried over thedrum to the guide 64 which latter will lead the fiber of the stalks tothe discharging conveyer 60. The stalks while traveling between therolls and drum are bent forward and back, and are broken split andstripped fromthe fiber. They are finally brushed from the latter withthe rotating cleaning brush 63, which revolving in an opposite directionfrom the rotation of the roll to which it is adjacent, thoroughly cleansthe fiber of any broken shell or crushed wooden stalks, and prevents thesaid fiber winding itself around said drum and leads it to the guide 64.Should an over-charge of stalks be carried over the crushing drum, thespring bearings of the rolls allow the latter to rise, and there isthereby obtained more clearance for the passage of the material.

It will be noted that the rolls 41 are rotated by virtue of the pinionsall meshing with the spur gear 29, and the rolls therefore all rotate inthe same directions, but the sides of a pair of the rolls that areadjacent to each other have rotations which are opposite each other asshown by the arrows 70 and 71. The peripheries of the rolls are closetogether, which together with the adjacent sides having oppositerotations prevents the material that is being treated from windingitself on the said rolls.

To obtain the proper rotations of the rolls with respect to the drum,that is to say so that they rotate in unison, the pitch diameter of thedrum is made equal to the pitch diameter of the large spur gear, and thepitch diameters of the pinions and rolls are equal to each other.

The flutes of the drum and rolls are made skew to obtain a shearingeffect in addition to the breaking effect, when the material is beingfed between them.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a decorticating machine the combination of a drum shaft, acrushing drum on the shaft, a spur gear on the shaft, axles parallel tothe drum shaft, crushing rolls on the axles, pinions on the axlesmeshing with said spur gear, means to rotate the drum shaft, flutes onthe rolls, flutes on the drum, the flutes on the drum straddling theflutes on the rolls, means to convey material to the drum and rolls, anda guide between said means and the said drum and rolls to direct thematerial between the drum and rolls.

2. In a decorticating machine the combination of a crushing drum, skewflutes on said drum, a plurality of rolls journaled adjacent to saiddrum, skew flutes on the rolls, means to maintain the flutes of the drumstraddled with the flutes of the rolls, means to rotate the drum androlls in unison, a charging conveyer leading to the machine, a guidebetween the conveyer and the drum, a discharging conveyer leading fromthe machine, a revolving cleaning' brush adjacent to the last roll andover the discharging conveyer, and means to rotate the said brush in adirection opposite to that of the last roll.

3. In a decorticating machine the combination of a drum shaft, acrushing drum on the shaft, a spur gear on the shaft, axles parallel tothe drum shaft, crushing rolls on the axles, pinions on the axlesmeshing with the spur gear, flutes on the crushing drum, flutes on thecrushing rolls, the flutes on the crushing drum straddling the flutes onthe rolls, a feed conveyer on one side of the crushing drum, a guidebetween the said drum and the said conveyer, a discharging conveyer onthe other side of the crushing drum, and a guide between the drum andthe latter conveyer.

4. In a decorticating machine the combination of a pair of frames,journal nearing supports on the frame, spring bearings carried on thesaid supports, axles supported in the spring bearings, a drum shaftjournaled on the frames, a crushing drum carried on the drum shaft, aspur gear secured to the said drum shaft, pinions carried on axles inthe spring bearings meshing with the spur gear, crushing rolls carriedon the axles in tne spring bearings, skew flutes on the crushing drum,skew flutes on the crushing rolls, a large sprocket chain wheel on thedrum shaft, small sprocket hain wheels journaled on opposite sides ofthe large sprocket chain wheel, a sprocket chain engaging the threesprocket chain wheels, a feed co'nveyer on the machine and driven by therotation of one of the axles of the small sprocket chain wheel, adischarging conveyer on the machine driven by the rotation of the axleof the other small sprocket chain wheel, guides between the conveyersand the crushing drum.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this30th day of March A. D. 1906.

GEORGE H. REYNOLDS.

Witnesses JAMES B. STEWART, .ToHN J. NEVIN.

